Book Review: Beyond Learning Objectives – Develop Measurable Objectives that Link to the Bottom Line

Emma Weber

I love the work of Jack and Patricia Phillips. Check out more about their work at www.roiinstitute.net. They have written over 30 books on ROI and Measurement of Learning. Beyond Learning Objectives: Develop Measurable Objectives that Link to the Bottom Line is one of my absolute favourites.

Why? It’s simple, practical and really, really useful!

Even though I’ve only had my copy 6 months it’s already looking very well used and has post it notes marking many pages.

As well as having a really clear framework detailing the why and how of linking program objectives to results and measurement it also includes some quick reference resources that are indispensable such as the list a Action Verbs to use when objective setting. I’ve have been writing out rough objectives with clients then we consult our copy of Beyond Learning Objectives and create a really compelling and polished set of objectives as a result. Genius.

Another of really useful table in the book is the one in Chapter 7, that details typical impact measures for over 30 different types of programs include leadership development, executive education, coaching and stress management. Very helpful in highlighting what can be measured. With clients I’m them layering the intangible wins on top.

Good objectives really create a difference in the effectiveness of Learning Transfer and the ROI of a program. As for a resource in helping you create those objectives you can’t go past this book. Good work Jack and Patti.

 

 

Emma Weber is a recognized authority on the transfer of learning. As CEO of Lever–Transfer of Learning, she has helped companies such as Telstra, Oracle and BMW deliver and measure tangible business results from learning. She has also been a guest speaker at learning effectiveness conferences worldwide and authored the hugely successful book “Turning Learning into Action“. Much more detail around the issues and solutions examined in this article are available in the book – please feel free to download a free chapter. Emma and her team also developed Coach M, a coaching chatbot that delivers fully scaleable learning transfer. She is also a co-author of the books Making Change Work, and Designing Virtual Learning for Application and Impact. Her work and approach is also featured in Data and Analytics for Instructional Designers by Megan Torrance (Author), Foundations of People Metrics and Analytics – by Renjini Joseph and an ATD 10-minute case study series – Chatbot Coaching for Learning Transfer.